


weathering

by picklebridge



Series: Commander Cody Week 2021 [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Big brother Cody, Gen, Jedi Younglings (Star Wars), Self-Doubt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-20
Updated: 2021-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-29 01:20:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30148563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/picklebridge/pseuds/picklebridge
Summary: “Hey, kid,” he says, tilting his head down to get a proper look at her. “Looks like it was a rough one.”Tano sighs, fishing out a smile for him. There’s dirt smudged through the markings on her cheeks and her akul tooth headdress is slightly awry.-Cody makes sure that Ahsoka's holding up okay after the younglings' run in with Hondo Ohnaka.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody & Ahsoka Tano, CC-2224 | Cody & Obi-Wan Kenobi
Series: Commander Cody Week 2021 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2213964
Comments: 7
Kudos: 63





	weathering

**Author's Note:**

> i really am absolutely wiped out today, so this is not my best, but here’s a little something for day 7 of @commandercodyweek with today’s theme “missing perspectives”. this one’s a little homage to the fact that i was SO MAD when season five nearly gave us youngling rescuer Cody and then snatched it away again. i may literally never forgive you for that one, filoni.

“Hey, kid,” he says, tilting his head down to get a proper look at her. “Looks like it was a rough one.”

Tano sighs, fishing out a smile for him. There’s dirt smudged through the markings on her cheeks and her akul tooth headdress is slightly awry. He sweeps his gaze over her face, taking in the shadows under her eyes, the tightness in her shoulders. She looks rough, not that he can blame her.

“Yeah, you know how it is with Hondo,” she shrugs, then yawns behind her hand and forces herself to straighten again.

Cody casts a dirty look at the open space overhead, in the general direction that the pirate ship had vanished in, with a good quantity of Republic credits and far more dignity than it’d deserved. Both privately and vocally Cody thinks that Ohnaka deserved nothing more than a boot up his ass, even if Obi-Wan is probably right that treating him with tolerance keeps them on better terms. He’d pointed out that hiring him to help them on Onderon hadn’t stopped him from kidnapping seven younglings, and then walked straight into the rebuttal of yes, it hadn’t, and would he just think of how much worse it could have been, had they not had those bonds?

Perhaps Cody’s just spoiling for a fight after all those hours crouched in an escape pod, helpless to do anything at all and deeply, painfully aware that every minute spent there meant that the younglings were on their own.

Still, Obi-Wan is usually right, however annoying that often is when he drags himself half-dead out of a campaign with no excuse other than a bold-faced ‘it worked, didn’t it?’. 

That thought had stopped him from physically detaining the wretch the minute Hondo had stepped foot on his ship, but just barely. He’d contented himself with glaring over Obi-Wan’s shoulder with enough force to melt the paint off of armour instead, blaster drawn with the safety off. Looking at the state Tano is in now, he wants to commandeer a fighter and chase after that miserable pirate to put a healthy dose of fear into him.

“Hm,” he says, huffing a soft laugh at the sight of the little Nautolan youngling’s slack-jawed awe when Obi-Wan lets him see his lightsaber. “Sometimes it feels like far too many roads lead to Florrum.” 

That makes her snort, but as quickly as it comes, she sighs and crosses her arms. “Figures I can’t even make it through a simple escort mission without things getting complicated.” 

He raises an eyebrow, even though she can’t see it, and feels a helpless little smile break over his face at the self-depreciating expression she’s wearing. He knows exactly where she learnt that one, can’t count the number of times he’s seen Rex wear precisely that shade of wry defeat. 

“Ahsoka, Ahsoka!” One of the younglings calls, and he sees the way her shoulders climb up to her montrals, how she forces her expression to ease out as she turns to look. “Didn’t one of the pirates try to armbar me, and didn’t I-”

Some of the others cut in then, clamoring with eager voices that tumble over each other in an excited, tumultuous rush. Their eyes are bright, flushed with first victory like a little pack of eager shinies. It’s well deserved, if half of what they’re saying is true. But he can see the way Tano has locked up, the way she’s swaying a little in place and fighting it hard. 

Not even Jedi can go on forever, and for all he knows she a force to be reckoned with, she’s still just a youngling herself. 

Gently, he detangles her from where the Ithorian and the Wookie have started demonstrating some of their circus acrobatics and takes his helmet off so that he can cast a significant look at Obi-Wan. He remembers all too well how that used to feel - that special adrenaline that used to spike on his first days in command, the unique weight of that pressure to do everything right, of everyone's expectation and the need to do it all right. He used to struggle to let it go, too, and has wrangled far too many little brothers into setting aside their own burdens. One more go at it isn’t a hardship. 

“I think the General’s got it handled here,” he says. “How about we head up to the mess and find some caf? It won’t be great, but it’ll be warm.” 

“Oh!” Ahsoka says, and he sees it, the way she starts to relax at the thought and then drags herself back, that same stubbornness that powers her through campaigns hamstringing her now. “That’s okay, but - I’m sure he’s got things he needs to do, I can’t expect him to -,” 

Cody loops a loose arm around her shoulders and steers her round to the blast doors.

“Believe me, he’ll be thrilled to have the excuse not to.”

He leads her out of the hangar, snatching Obi-Wan’s robe from a bench and draping it round her shoulders. He won’t miss it - and he smirks at the expression of delighted glee she gets at his derisive tone when he tells her so. Skywalker might think that he has as much rigidity as a stale ration bar, and Cody might be happy to let him while it still suits, but Tano’s a much-needed ally in managing the Kenobi-Skywalker show. 

He sits her down in the empty mess, setting a full steaming mug and a plate full of the jerky strips Rex says she likes in front of her, making light conversation until she’s comfortable enough to sag into the robe and the tight look around her eyes has faded. He can see the crash rolling in as the adrenaline fades, and makes sure his shoulder is there for her to land on as it hits.

“I’m so glad we made it back,” she murmurs, her eyes slowly drifting closed.

Cody smiles, nudging her caf mug back out of the range of her sleep-slack fingers, and waves down Aster to find out where they’re all bunking. 

“Trust me, Commander. You couldn’t have done a better job.”

He sees the moment she starts to believe him, the corners of her smile easing into something a little more genuine. 

“Thanks, Cody.”


End file.
